Prairie Ridge High School launches innovative business program
Prairie Ridge High School students can create and develop their own product or service as part of an innovative business program launched this year.
The Crystal Lake school now offers INCubator Edu - the first program of its kind in McHenry County - which teaches students about foundational business topics with help from local entrepreneurs and business experts who serve as volunteer coaches and mentors.
Lessons focus on planning, business regulation, finances, insurance, legal, sales and marketing.
"This is 21st century learning at its best," said Johnnie Thomas, superintendent of Crystal Lake High School District 155. "We are able to provide our students with unique opportunities and innovative programs because of the supportive community in which we live."
The course is open to all District 155 seniors. Currently, 48 students are enrolled in two sections that run the entire school year.
School-based business incubators are becoming popular in the suburbs. High school entrepreneurship program INCubatoredu - a nonprofit founded in 2014 and first launched in Barrington - involves roughly 60 schools and more than 2,000 students across eight states. In Illinois, the program is offered at 26 public and private high schools, including several in Cook, Lake, and Kane counties.
Dundee-Crown High School's business incubator team, First STEP, won the school's inaugural Business Incubator class "Pitch Night" earlier this year with an idea to compost food waste from restaurants and turn it into organic fertilizer. The Carpentersville school's student entrepreneurs presented business plans and were awarded a $20,000 startup package. The team also went on to win the 2016 INCubatoredu National Pitch Night Competition beating four other high schools, including Barrington, Buffalo Grove, and Lake Forest, taking home $5,000.
At Prairie Ridge, students are placed in groups based on their strengths and abilities. Each team then creates a product or service. Teams spend the school year developing a plan to build their business. A business community mentor will be paired with each group to provide guidance.
Coaches who are experts in their fields will be brought in throughout the year to co-teach specific lessons, such as production innovation and marketing. At the end of the school year, each group will present to a group of local entrepreneurs and business leaders mimicking ABC's popular business pitch show, "Shark Tank."
The INCubator Edu classroom is designed to replicate a professional business environment, and includes a conference room, several HD monitors, mobile furniture, and whiteboard walls.
The Foglia Family Foundation and The Domek Foundation contributed funds to cover the cost of classroom construction.
"Business is an adventure, a wonderful adventure, and everyone should have some experience at it," said Vince Foglia, Founder of Sage Products.
The class will help create future jobs, said Mike Domek of The Domek Foundation and creator of TicketsNow.
"This initiative excites me as it will have a positive impact on students and the community for generations to come," he added.